Connect with us

Big 12

WVU Receiving Votes in AP Poll as the Big 12 Suffers a Tough First Weekend

Published

on

The first in-season AP Top-25 Poll was released Sunday and, while not ranked in the top-25, the West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0) found themselves not too far on the outside.

Following WVU’s 56-10 rout of the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (0-2) Saturday, the Mountaineers received votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls. In the AP Poll, WVU received 81 votes, second-most among those not ranked. In the coaches poll, the Mountaineers received 59 votes, third-most among the unranked teams.

Around the Big 12: Four teams won, three teams lost and three games were canceled. Let’s take a look.

No. 3 Oklahoma (1-0)

The Sooners debut of new starting quarterback Spencer Rattler turned out to be a rousing success. Rattler, a redshirt-freshman, went 14-17 for 290 yards and four touchdowns as Oklahoma routed Missouri State 48-0.

No. 9 Texas (1-0)

The Longhorns might have had the individual performance of the week as quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw for 426 yards and five scores just in the first half. They easily handled UTEP 59-3 and jumped up in the rankings from No. 14 to No. 9.

No. 12 Oklahoma State (0-0)

The Cowboys’ season-opener against Tulsa was originall schedule for yesterday, but was postponed to Sept. 19 due to COVID-19. OK State will then open up Big 12 play against WVU on Sept. 26.

Baylor (0-0)

Like Oklahoma State, the Bears also had a game postponed yesterday. Baylor would have played Louisiana Tech Saturday, but that game was postponed and will not be rescheduled. Instead, the Bears agreed to a last-minute matchup with Houston for Sept. 19. Baylor just ahead of WVU in the AP Poll, receiving 146 votes.

WVU (1-0)

The Mountaineers steamrolled Eastern Kentucky to the tune of 56-10. Running backs Leddie Brown and Alec Sinkfield both rushed for exactly 123 yards and as a team, WVU ran for over 300 yards.

TCU (0-0)

Another Big 12 team that had to cancel a game originally scheduled for yesterday. The Horned Frogs would have played SMU Saturday, but had to call the game off due to not meeting the Big 12’s minimum requirements to play. TCU’s first game is now scheduled to be its Big 12 opener against Iowa State on Sept. 26. TCU received 49 votes in the AP Poll.

Iowa State (0-1)

After being ranked in the AP preseason poll, the Iowa State Cyclones laid an egg in their season opener, losing at home 34-17 to Louisiana-Lafayette. ISU lead the Ragin’ Cajuns 14-10 at halftime before getting shut-out in the second half. Quarterback Brock Purdy completed just 16 of 35 passes for 145 yards and one interception. The Cyclones dropped out of the rankings this week, but still received 14 votes.

Texas Tech (1-0)

Although they won, the Red Raiders did not have a good first game, barely holding off Houston Baptist 35-33. TTU held Houston Baptist to just 28 rushing yards, but quarterback Bailey Zappe threw for 567 yards and four touchdowns against the Red Raiders’ defense. TTU receiving five votes in the AP Poll.

Kansas State (0-1)

The Wildcats are definitely in the running for worst week one in the Big 12, losing 35-31 to Arkansas State. KSU quarterback threw for 259 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the Wildcats as a team were held 100 rushing yards. The defense also allowed Arkansas State to score the game-winning touchdown with 38 seconds left.

Kansas (0-1)

As bad as Iowa State and Kansas State’s lasses were, nobody had a worse opening weekend than Kansas. The Jayhawks lost 38-23 to Coastal Carolina and CCU did not even play that well. The Chanticleers only gained 318 total yards to KU’s 367, but they scored the first four touchdowns of the game and opened up a 28-0 lead over the Jayhawks before halftime.

Get WVSN in your mailbox!

Enter your email address to subscribe to WVSN and receive notifications of new posts by email.

COMPLETE COVERAGE